Coulee Corridor goes national as scenic byway

Scenic byway one of 45 designated

COLUMBIA BASIN — One stretch of local road just received national significance.

The 150-mile stretch of Highways 17 and 155 from Othello to Omak known as the Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway was designated Thursday as a national scenic byway, one of 45 around the United States to get the designation by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. The designation is part of a program to help recognize and preserve selected roads throughout the country.

"Oh, wow," Coulee Corridor Consortium secretary Rita Tuller said Thursday. "It really is incredible."

The consortium is made up of dozens of volunteers from public and private agencies along the highway with an aim to promote appreciation and tourism of the area and its history. The organization's president, Tim Alling, was in Washington, D.C. for the announcement, and unavailable for comment Thursday.

"Tim Alling has been the driver of it within our community," Tuller said.

Tuller said the committee stated work began on the corridor only a few years ago, with help from groups like the Washington State Department of Transportation and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife also helping to support the byway. The national designation, Tuller said, gives the corridor a higher priority for grant money that will allow the consortium to develop and market the byway across the United States.

For now, CCC supporter Bill Kelley said, the byway can get on the national map along with 124 other scenic byways around the nation. Kelley is a professor at Eastern Washington University, and has been one of dozens of people involved with the CCC. He said one of the goals of the group over the last few years has been the push toward this national designation, a designation he said will give the roadway national publicity.

"One thing we're going to do is have a big party and celebrate," Kelley said after hearing the announcement.

Now, Kelley said, travelers from places like New York City and across the nation will have the opportunity to visit the area and take in the hospitality that local communities provide. He said that once they arrive on the Coulee Corridor, visitors will be able to learn about the wildlife and history along the central Washington roadway. Kelley highlighted the area's birds as well as its history, such as the ice age floods that swept through the Northwest.

"Important to us is that they take away an appreciation of the unique resources of the corridor," he said.

The America's Byways Web site is www.byways.org, for more information on the designation.